


Day 23- Fungus

by Broken_Clover



Series: Goretober 2018 [23]
Category: Guilty Gear
Genre: Body Horror, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Gen, Mushrooms, Parasites, Violence, Zombies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-02
Updated: 2018-11-02
Packaged: 2019-08-14 17:05:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16496687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Broken_Clover/pseuds/Broken_Clover
Summary: It was just a simple rescue mission, how hard could it be?





	Day 23- Fungus

“Hello? Is anyone here? This is Leo Whitefang, I’ve come to rescue you.”

The statement was booming and deep, accompanied by the sound of a great blade slicing through the thick undergrowth of plants. King Leo stepped through the ramshackle path he’d made, looking around with fierce eyes.

Usually, a rescue mission for a group of villagers and farmers was the sort of thing that was left to the police force, or to the efforts of locals, rather than a king. For this particular instance, though, the circumstances were unusual enough that it had picked up the attention of the capital.

According to the reports, this particular village was experiencing widespread disappearances. Almost a third of the town had gone missing over the last few months. At first, a group of farmers had scouted out the nearby woodland for new land to clear-cut. All of them had vanished without a trace. As did the group that went in to try and find the missing farmers.

Since then, it almost seemed like people were disappearing randomly. Rumors had gone rampant lately, claiming that the village had succumbed to the dark magic of a witch, or that the woods were filled with Gears just waiting to wipe them all out. No bodies had been found, so nobody was sure just what had happened to anyone. Nothing but paranoia to fuel them.

At first, Ky had suggested sending Sol out to deal with it, but Leo intervened. For one, trying to locate and bring Sol in just to issue him a task that he may not have even agreed to would waste time. Secondly…as shameful as it was to admit it, Leo felt as though he hadn’t been doing much lately to foster a positive public opinion. Ky is and was as popular as he’d always been, and even Daryl, who was prone to taking a more subtle public face, had been met with positive reception lately with his pragmatic yet sensible military reforms. Leo hadn’t accomplished anything major in a while, it seemed like this was just the sort of thing he needed.

Before he could let out another shout, Leo caught a smear of something pink in his peripheral vision. Hacking at some inconvenient foliage- he wondered how these farmers could have even gotten this far in the first place!- he forced his way through, picking up hints of other colors in the process.

He’d managed to cut his way into a small clearing of sorts. Immediately, he noticed several things. The pink color had belonged to some odd-looking plant, which clung in thick clusters to several of the nearby trees and branched out in fronds, almost like a mushroom.

Next- and most importantly- he spotted a few dozen bodies sprawled out on the ground, motionless but seemingly unharmed.

“Aha! I had such a feeling…” He approached the nearest still figure, kneeling down and carefully nudging them with his hand. “You, sir, are you alright?”

The man shuddered as he was touched, making a noise somewhere between a cough and a gasp. Leo leaned back, but still remained within reach just in case he needed help getting up.

“Pardon me, sir, but can you tell me what’s happened to you?”

“Khh…” The man hissed weakly, pushing himself up onto his elbows and knees. Leo took note of how he was shaking and reached over to help.

“I understand if you’re not in excellent condition, but-”

The stranger suddenly let out an ear-piercing shriek as he lunged back. The larger man flinched away, staring in wide eyed confusion.

“What the…”

When the man turned to look at him, Leo felt a gag of nausea in his gut. A similar pink mushroom frond was affixed to the man’s head, sprouting across the right side of his face where it had been hidden, overtaking his eye and severely deforming the face. The one eye that was still present was a bloody, Gearlike red, without any hint of a pupil or iris.

In an instant, Leo was back on his feet, broadswords unfolding. The other figures lying around them shuddered to life as their companion had, with a growing fear fluttering in the warrior’s chest as he saw the same pink protrusions and red eyes on every single one of them.

They all shrieked and lunged at him before he could issue a warning. He managed to be fast enough to toss up the flat side of his blade in defense. He didn’t know why they were trying to attack him, but he knew better than to go for the kill immediately.

“I demand that you stand down. I do not wish to harm you. If you come with me, I will bring medical personnel so they can-”

Another shriek cut him off. Leo was forced to swing the blunt side again to knock several of the people away. They seemed almost animalistic in their movements, shuffling awkwardly and standing with a slump, but lunging quickly. He’d never seen anything like it.

He tried his best to deter and parry, but he soon realized that he wouldn’t be able to keep it up forever. These things were relentless, and seemed no less quick than they had been from the start. They clearly weren’t listening to reason, and the protrusions indicated that something was very wrong with them.

“Very well…I’m sorry it had to come to this.”

When he finally move to strike proper, they tried to scatter. But Leo’s sword techniques had not grown rusty since the election, he made for a quick pursuit. Compared to years spent hacking open the thick hides of Gears, it felt almost uncomfortably easy to send his swords through human flesh. It wasn’t helped at all by the shrill screeches that accompanied his work, growing quieter and sparser as he got to work putting each of them down.

Before long, Leo found himself standing in the forest clearing, surrounded by butchered bodies. A wave of sadness arose in his chest, but he tried his best to stifle it. He’d had no choice.

Hopefully something good could still come out of it. He reached for the fin-like frond jutting out of a splintered skull and tore a chunk of it away. A few moments were spared to look it over, before tucking it away in his satchel.

Leo felt tired. It would take a while to get back to Illyria, but as soon as he did, he was going to offer the sample to the research division and then excuse himself as quickly as possible. Close the case and move on. Of course, they’d probably need a firsthand account from him, and the paperwork had to be filed, and everything had to be in order before they could even _think_ about submitting to close the case with the legal department-

Perhaps he just needed a rest for now. It had been a very long day. Maybe a shower, too. His head felt remarkably itchy…


End file.
